Thursday Open Thread

This Jezebel post chided grandparents who purposely choose a name other than “Grandma.” Think Goldie Hawn insisting that her grandbabies call her “Glam-Ma” or Blythe Danner requesting that her grandkids call her “Woof.”

The growing trend of self-naming grandparents has been attributed to the huge wave of baby boomers whose kids are having kids. The working theory is that they think of themselves as too young and too active for the traditional names, which conjure up images of gray-haired, bespectacled old ladies knitting in rocking chairs.

I think it’s kind of goofy to insist on some unorthodox variation of Grandma, though I do like it when kids come up with one organically. I called my paternal grandparents “Abuelito” and “Abuelita.” My maternal grandparents were “Grandma” and “Grandpa,” Pretty standard.

When DD was born and my parents became grandparents, they were going to be “Abuelito Chava” and “Abuelita Guille.” DD couldn’t pronounce Guille (GEEH-yeh) and started calling her GeeGee. It stuck, and she’s still GeeGee today. Paternal grandma is “Grandma,” while paternal step-grandpa requested to be called Pop Pop.